Saturday, June 28 - Friday, July 4
Four Couples, One House, One Week, Can They Survive?

We arrived in Gloucester, Virginia Thursday afternoon and are staying at Chesapeake Bay RV Resort.  Friday was cleaning, laundry, shopping, etc.  As the check-in time for the show was Saturday, 4:00 PM, we spent Saturday morning and early afternoon relaxing at the RV park -- a nice RV park with many updated facilities.

Pickle ball.  WHAT, they changed the tennis courts into pickle ball courts :(

The RV park golf course

Golf cart races

Okay, it's 4:00 PM, time for the new mega-hit reality TV show, "Four Couples, One House, One Week, Can They Survive?"  The stars for the premier show are:

Dave and Dana Adams from Tucson, Arizona.  Dana and Diane Fahrenkrug are cousins. 

Dave and Dana Adams

Mark and Joanne Rehling from Orange County, California.  Mark and Bill Fahrenkrug have been BFF before there were BFFs; they have been BFF since grade school.  Joanne is my long lost sister (I could never remember where I put her).  Mark and Joanne never left Southern, California.

Mark and Joanne Rehling

Bill and Diane Fahrenkrug from Bloomington, Illinois.  Besides Bill being BFF with Mark, Bill was the (second) best man at Becky and my wedding (begrudgingly, but then Bill does EVERYTHING begrudgingly).

Bill and Diane Fahrenkrug (Bill with his game face on)

Tom and Becky Burgoyne from Sacramento, California.  Well, what else is there to say?

Tom and Becky Burgoyne

And what do all of these couples have in common?  All eight of us were part of a Christian youth group in Westminster, California in the 70's.  And, we are still just as youthful (sort-of).  We all met our spouses through the youth group.

LET IT BEGIN!!

The house we are using is the Blue Water Haven * Waterfront Inn.  It is on a peninsula in the Chesapeake Bay.

 
The house at Chesapeake Bay

The boathouse

The gang gathered for dinner

So far, all participants are behaving themselves and having a good time reconnecting and throwing jabs.

Well, it had to happen.  Becky and I were given a penalty for abandoning the others as we left for the night to return to our RV instead of staying at the house.  We felt we could gain the advantage by getting a good night sleep.  As we returned the next morning, we found that the others did just fine staying at the house and were bright and cheery as we returned.  We did return each night to our RV as it looked lonely and in need of being kept company at night.

Sunday began the planning and relaxing for the week plus exploring what was at the house: kayaks, canoes, bikes, pool, crab traps, crab pot, a rented boat for fishing, plus much more.

On Monday, we all collected and drove to Colonial Williamsburg, a main attraction of the area, to participate in a recreation of life and events around the revolution and of the beginning of the United States of America.  The day began with Williamsburg citizens discussing the issues about Britain and the king collecting taxes and imposing laws without representation and news from other parts of the colonies.  The potential consequences of rebellion and revolution were also considered and worried about.  Not all citizens favored rebellion against the king and many feared for their lives and livelihood. 

At the beginning of the afternoon, we gathered at the capitol building as news from the congress in Philadelphia came that our representatives had drafted and signed a declaration of independence.  This Declaration of Independence was read to us to great cheer and fanfare but also to much worry and anxiety.

Later, we sent off the young men from town to the siege of Yorktown.

Okay, it is a blending of different days and periods in history.

Citizens of our fair town discussing the unfair taxes and laws from Britain and the king

News from the congress and reading of the Declaration of Independence

Barber and free black man telling us how "citizenship" is limited to the few

Local citizens discussing the issues of the day

Bill and Diane were caught J-walking

Our lunchtime discussion of the events of the day

George Washington addressing the recruits before heading to Yorktown

Later in the week, Steve Shimeall, another member of our youth group, joined our activities.  Steve is now living in New Jersey.

Steve Shimeall

For the rest of the week, we enjoyed each other's company.  In the premier of  "Four Couples, One House, One Week, Can They Survive?" yes, they can survive and more; they can have a great time and greatly enjoy each other's company.  We are all winners!!!

Joanne remembering childhood catching crabs with chicken thighs

Tom and Bill out in the kayaks

Mark and Bill fishing (yes, they caught lots of fish but released them)

And the winners!